


The Showcase

by aerobesk



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Photography, Primarily neison, and there's lots of embarrassment, but it's through candid photography, like legit, neil figures out his thing for harrison, there's maxpres too though cause I'm a sucker for those two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 21:29:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13221630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerobesk/pseuds/aerobesk
Summary: With the showcase drawing ever closer, everyone was focused. Dolph was setting up an art gallery, Ered was showing off her new skateboard ramp, Preston was debuting a new play he’d written. Neil, however, was at a loss. Until he thought back to the electronics store in town. The small shop had a lot of broken parts and long forgotten pieces, sure, but he remembered something specific catching his eye: the framework of an old instant print camera.





	1. The Idea

Neil grinned as he walked away from the art camp. Dolph was preparing some pieces, completely absorbed in his work, and hadn’t noticed Neil at all. With the showcase drawing ever closer, everyone was focused.

The showcase was an idea that David had had after the fiasco on Parent’s Day. Having each of the campers think of something to share from their camp was a great way to unify everyone and have the whole group be excited about their talents.

Dolph was in the middle of a painting of a sunrise for the gallery he was setting up. Ered was showing off her new skateboard ramp, Preston was debuting a new play he’d written, and Max was… well actually he wasn’t sure what Max was doing. But that wasn’t the point.

The point was that seeing Dolph’s paintings all hung up had given him an idea for his own show. See, Neil was in science camp, so finding something to show off had been tricky. He couldn’t get the proper equipment to do any sort of chemical display and the only electronics he had built was his computer, which he wasn’t exactly excited about revealing to the rest of the camp.

But then he thought back to the electronics store in town. The small shop had a lot of broken parts and long forgotten pieces, sure, but he remembered something specific catching his eye: the framework of an old instant print camera. The back had been completely smashed off and the front lens was cracked down the center. The small box of films sat next to it was dusty and half empty.

He was amazed by his brilliance. He could show off the technology he built with no one there understanding it, or he could show what it could do! Building an outdated camera practically from scratch and having it work better than a lot of modern day ones would give them something to look at that they could actually appreciate!

He turned, stalking off towards the counselors cabins. He had work to do.

\--

It only took a few minutes of explaining the situation to David before the counselor agreed to take him into town. Apparently he was just “excited to see you having a good time and being involved in something!” 

As soon as the town came into view, though, Neil started to get nervous. What if it wasn’t there anymore? It was possible to build one out of nothing but with the limited materials he was given in the first place he’d be lucky to even get this going, let alone build something completely by hand.

He hopped out of the camp owned car and walked briskly up to the door of the shop. A bell rang as he entered, and he got a friendly wave from the man behind the counter as he helped an elderly gentleman with a clock radio. Neil shook his head as he wandered towards the shelf where he had seen the device. As he walked closer he let out a sigh of relief. A little more dust seemed to have collected, but that may have just been his imagination.

The older man was leaving as Neil approached the counter, setting down the frame and film before asking if there was anything else the store had that could help him. The worker studied the box of film for a moment before nodding.

“Wait just a second; I think I might have something like this in the back,”  he stated briskly, walking over to a door behind the counter while Neil tapped his foot impatiently. A few minutes later, after several boxes and carts had been moved around, the man returned holding two boxes of the film Neil had seen from his previous trip to town.

“This what you’re looking for?”

Neil nodded vigorously, purchasing the items with a feeling of excitement. He hadn’t wanted anything to do with the camp since the first day he’d arrived. Now at the least there was something catching his interest, and there was no fucking way he was about to pass it up.

The camera parts he’d collected were spread across the science camp table the moment they got back to the yard. On the drive back he’d drawn up a few sketches of what the camera would be, and as soon as he got everything together he started, excitement lighting his features.

“What’s his deal?” Max asked Nikki and Nerris while they stood together by the magic stage.

“Looks like he’s got some new toy to play with,” Nikki replied as Harrison dropped down to stand with them.

“What’s going on?” the magic kid asked. Nerris simply pointed at Neil.

“Neil’s going to town on something new I guess.”

Harrison watched Neil work, taking in the way his fingered deftly pieced together two parts and began fiddling with some screws, his mouth and eyebrows screwing up with focus. He coughed, turning away toward the stage again.

“Yeah, whatever. Good for him,” he said as he hopped back up, staying pointedly turned away from the others as he prayed for the heat in his cheeks to recede, thanking the universe for his dark skin.

Nikki looked questioningly at Nerris who just shrugged and shook her head.

“No idea,” she said, prompting Max to roll his eyes.

“Weirdos.”


	2. The Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn’t until his box was almost full that Neil spread the pictures out, separating them into categories of different campers verses the ones of the scenery around them. He looked them over approvingly before he noticed something. Reaching out, he picked up the stack in the back left corner of his bed, which had to be at least twice the size of any of the others. Flicking through the images he started to feel a wave of heat rush over his face and down his neck.   
> ‘They’re all of…’

The camera itself wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be. The frame ended up being more damaged than it had looked, but it at least served as a reference for him. By the time it was done there was still another week or so before the showcase; just enough time for him to execute part two of his plan.

He slipped the strap around his neck before wandering around to look at the other kids. Dolph was working on a lovely painting of a man riding a squirrel and Neil took a quick snap of the boy staring at it in concentration. He needed to take a few practice shots anyway to test the lighting and focus, so he went to all the different camps to investigate the other projects.

By the time he was done he had a small pile in his pocket. He brought it all back to his tent, putting the camera down next to his bed and spreading out the photos to look at them. There was a shot of Ered gliding down the ramp on her skateboard, one of Space Kid animatedly staring at the sky from on top of the framework of the theater (featuring David frantically yelling at him and trying to get him down), and a bunch of other photos that had only turned out ok. The only one that had really turned out well was the picture of the magic stage. The lighting had been in a perfect direction and the curtain had made a majestic background. The foreground of the image was a bust of Harrison practicing his summoning trick by pulling a bird out of nowhere. The still shot was right as the bird was starting to fly away, so it perfectly caught the bird in motion as well as Harrison smiling as his trick worked.

Neil pulled out the rest of the things he had bought in town and grabbed a photo album from the bag. He had bought two just in case he ended up taking more than he had planned, but the way he wanted to set it up was to have only his favorites in the binders while leaving the others piled in a box. For now he simply set all of the images in the box and set it on his side table, staring at it for a moment before putting the photo of Harrison in the back instead of the front. The shot of Preston trying to recover from falling into one of the curtains was a much better picture to have at the front.

\---

It took less than two days for everyone to notice Neil and his camera. He had a few people hiding from him, simply being camera shy. Some of the others, however, seemed to love the attention. He’d find Preston posing dramatically every time he’d walk past the stage, so he’d snicker and take a picture before moving on simply to humor him. Some of them actually turned out pretty nice, but he wasn’t going to tell him that.

Nerris was surprisingly photogenic, managing a few posed smiles or dramatic action shots to give Neil more of what he was looking for. Nikki wasn’t really sure about any of it, so a lot of the images were just of her smiling awkwardly. Neil decided to just stick with candid photos of her. Most of the ones he had of Max just involved a grumpy expression and a middle finger, so there were two pages in his photo album of just those. It made him laugh when he showed Max and the other boy rolled his eyes so hard Neil was surprised it hadn’t hurt him. The only real shot he’d gotten of Max was him sitting in the grass next to the theatre stage, smiling up at the practice show happening with Preston and Space Kid. Preston was helping the other boy run his lines so that he’d be able to say them without a cue card. Neil was surprised that he’d managed to get a picture of Max actually smiling (since it was a rare occurrence in general), but it turned out really nice, as did the one he took right after of the two kids on stage. He set them in his album in alignment so that it looked like the Max on the page was staring at the stage in the other image. He liked the way it looked perspective wise, but he doubted Max would see it that way.

It wasn’t until his box was almost full that Neil spread the pictures out, separating them into categories of different campers verses the ones of the scenery around them. He looked them over approvingly before he noticed something. Reaching out, he picked up the stack in the back left corner of his bed, which had to be at least twice the size of any of the others. Flicking through the images he started to feel a wave of heat rush over his face and down his neck.

The stack itself had a lot of different types of photos. Some were from a ways back, some were up close. Some were shots capturing motion and others were completely still. Some had darker lighting, some were bright and eye catching. There was only one thing in common out of all of them. ‘ _They’re all of… Harrison.’_

He stared at them incredulously for another minute before dropping the pile back into the box, quickly followed by the rest of the pictures. He was horrified to find that the pictures he took of Harrison filled an entire third of the box. He shook his head, putting it back onto his table just as Max walked in. They made eye contact and Max stared at him for a moment.

“What’s up with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re all red. You’re not getting sick or anything right?”

Neil held a hand to his cheek to find that it was indeed a lot warmer than it should have been. “No, I’m fine. It’s just… warm in here.”  
Max looked around at the tent as Neil realized that the sun had gone down and the temperature had gone down by a significant amount. Before his roommate had a chance to say anything else he said a hasty goodnight and crawled into his bunk. There was silence for a moment before Max returned the sentiment, then a rustling of fabric followed by silence. Neil stared at the wall, trying to figure out why he was so thrown off by this.

_‘Maybe it’s because the person who’s been driving you crazy the entire time you’ve been here by completely breaking the laws of science also happens to be the person that you’ve apparently been watching substantially, as you’ve taken photos of him more than almost everyone else combined without even noticing it,’_ his brain helpfully suggested. “Oh shut up.”

“What?” Max said from the other side of the room, causing Neil to jump from the sudden voice. He hadn’t realized that he’d said that out loud.

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

“You’re telling yourself to shut up?”

“...yeah?”

“Whatever dude. Go to sleep.”

Max shifted again before falling back into a steady breathing pattern. Neil shook his head at himself before closing his eyes and trying to envision the photos he would take to replace the tragedy sitting next to his bed.


	3. The Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harrison wandered over to his stage, preparing his hoops for the new trick idea he had when he suddenly felt the urge to look up. His gaze roamed until it settled on the grass in front of the ramp next to the theater. Neil sat there with his camera out, fiddling with what Harrison could only assume was the settings. He glanced around, taking in the direction the boy was sitting and the positions of the camps. He seemed to be pointed right towards the theater.  
> ‘I suppose it’s Preston then,’ he thought.

Neil yawned, slowly making his way back to the yard. He had moved the box of photos into the drawer of the science table, since he was able to actually lock that. He put his camera in there as well, so that at least he could claim that he was stowing them to be safe. At least he was, in a way.

Breakfast had just ended and he needed to grab his camera before he could continue. The previous day his work had been interrupted by an unexpected boat trip across the lake, prompted by the sudden appearance of Mr. Campbell. None of the campers mentioned the presence of multiple unlabeled bags sitting in each boat, and the man didn’t explain. Today, however, he’d be able to get back to his project. He had almost enough photos to create a showcase, and still two days left to get ready.

He entered the yard lost in thought about where he would go to start when he froze. Max was sitting cross legged on the grass in front of the science camp table, the empty box in his lap and the photos surrounding him in a circle. He was holding three of them, studying one and setting the other two gently onto his leg. The lock that had been on the drawer was sat innocently on top of the desk. He looked up as Neil approached.

“You’ve been busy.”

Neil stared at him, too stunned to speak for a moment before he was able to get anything out.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“I’m looking at your photos. Duh.”

“Why? That’s an invasion of privacy! You could have just asked!”

“Would you have let me?”

“...that’s not the point.”

“Yes it is,” Max smirked as he set the photos he was holding back on the ground. Neil’s face paled as he noticed that all three of them were of one specific camper. Speaking of which…

“So why are most of these of Harrison?”

He felt his face flush again and silently cursed his pale complexion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have photos of everyone.”

“Yeah, you do. But this,” he said, gesturing to a good portion of the photos that were spread to his left side, “is quite a few.”

Neil crossed his arms stubbornly. “Well that stage just has good lighting.”

Max raised an eyebrow.

“And it’s close to my camp.”

Max just continued to stare at him.

“And maybe he’s sort of photogenic.”

That caused a grin to grow on Max’s face as he tilted his head to the side. Neil ducked his head, kneeling down to collect the images as he heard the other kids approaching. Max just sat there, ignoring the odd looks they were getting from the other campers as they wandered over. Nikki cocked her head in confusion while looking over Neil’s shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

Neil jumped, moving to block the last few from view before grabbing the box from Max’s lap and hastily but carefully putting the photos back where they belonged. “Nothing Nikki!”

“Oooh, are we finally looking at Neil’s pictures?”

A few of the other campers wandered over when they heard that as the whole camp was interested in seeing the outcome of Neil’s project. His eyes scanned over the small crowd, heat rising in his neck as he saw both of the magic kids approaching.

“I don’t know if Neil will show everyone,” Max said, causing Nikki to pout.

“Aww, come on! Why not?” She gave Neil a pair of puppy dog eyes that normally would have caused him to cave and at least try to give her what she wanted, but in this scenario they just caused him to flinch away from her with a hand held protectively over his box.

“Because they aren’t ready yet!”

“Yeah, he hasn’t gotten photos of everyone yet, since he’s mostly only gotten photos of-”

“NO ONE!” Neil practically yelled, reaching out to shove a hand over Max’s mouth, earning him another raised eyebrow. The other kids stared at him in confusion until he slowly lowered his hand. “The photos aren’t ready yet,” he finished lamely, trying not to make eye contact with anyone as he stood up and swapped out the box of photos for his camera. He quickly relocked the drawer and walked away, leaving a stunned group of kids behind. Finally Nikki was the one to break the silence.

“But I wanted to see them now…”

Max snorted. “He’s just embarrassed.”

Nikki turned to look at him. “You said that most of them were of one person?”

He shrugged, moving to follow after Neil. “Maybe.”

She trotted behind him, eager to try and hear more while the rest of the group dispersed. Harrison wandered over to his stage, preparing his hoops for the new trick idea he had when he suddenly felt the urge to look up. His gaze roamed until it settled on the grass in front of the ramp next to the theater. Neil sat there with his camera out, fiddling with what Harrison could only assume was the settings. He glanced around, taking in the direction the boy was sitting and the positions of the camps. He seemed to be pointed right towards the theater.

 _‘I suppose it’s Preston then,’_ he thought before focusing on his rings again. A few seconds after he had looked away Neil looked up, focusing on the stage again. He was sitting far enough away that he could get the entire area in the shot. He lifted his camera before realizing what he was doing and snapped the photo. After a moment the picture printed and Neil pulled it out, staring at his work.

Harrison was just getting ready to start practicing his new trick, getting ready by dramatically holding the three interlinked rings above his head. His eyes were closed and his chest was puffed out, taking a deep breath before he started. Neil had somehow managed to subconsciously zoom in on the boy, probably _(‘hopefully’)_ just trying to get a good shot. He shook his head, slipping the photo into his pocket before pointing his camera at the theater where Preston was trying to hide behind the curtains as Nurf threw insults and rocks at him from the seats. He barely even registered what he was looking at as he snapped the next picture, completely unaware of the magician on the next stage watching him.


	4. The Event

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He slowly turned and walked away, only glancing back once at the lock on the desk. Maybe Max was lying. Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe Harrison was totally misunderstanding this and was going to make a fool out of himself. All he knew was that his curiosity wasn’t going to be sated until he knew what was in that drawer.

By the time the showcase came around everyone was in a panic. Ered had sprained her ankle and couldn’t perform her stunt, someone had accidently gotten mud on three of Dolph’s paintings (“Nikki I swear to god if you throw mud at someone one more time you are banned from the forest for a week.”), and with Ered out of commission Preston needed to find a new lead. Only a few of the projects were actually ready, one of them being Neil’s.

Everyone had been dying to see the photos for a while now considering the amount of secrecy he had put into the project. There was almost constantly a kid or two standing at the science camp table, staring at the fabric hung across the sign’s support beams. It was soft and purple, taken from one of the costume trunks in the back of the stage rooms. Pinned to it was a myriad of images ranging from trees to the lake to the cabins and counselors, but primarily of the campers. They had fun trying to find all of the pictures of themselves among the wall of photos, despite the fact that there were only a total of forty pictures up there. The small collection of Max flipping off the camera got a few laughs, and a blush formed on Preston’s cheeks as he noticed the set of Max smiling at his performance. Max later noticed those same photos and walked away grumbling about privacy and betrayal of trust.

Neil was standing next to a few others looking over Nerris’ map for her newest campaign when Harrison slipped away to go look. Everyone else had finally had their fun, so the science camp was empty when he arrived. He looked over the entire thing before doing a double take, scanning all of them again. He studied each photo to make sure he wasn’t just missing something, but he wasn’t. Sure enough, there just wasn’t a single photo of him.

He took a step back, looking in the direction of the rest of the campers when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He jumped and turned around to find Max standing a little ways behind him. He opened his mouth to ask what he was doing when Max spoke.

“It’s kind of funny.”

“...what is?”

“The pictures he put up. It’s not nearly all of the ones he took.”

“...”

“It’s also interesting that the person he took the most photos of is the only one that he didn’t post up there.”

Harrison blinked at him before turning around again to look at the images. He counted out the campers, finding each and every one in at least two of them. Except for himself. He thought back to what Max had said.

________

_ Harrison wandered over to where Neil and Max were sitting in the grass, Nerris close behind him. Neil was frantically trying to pick his photos up while Nikki was trying to peek over his shoulder. _

_ “I don’t know if Neil will show everyone,” Max said, causing Nikki to pout. _

_ “Aww, come on! Why not?” She gave Neil a pleading look. Harrison looked away, focusing on the box being protectively shielded in Neil’s arms. _

_ “Because they aren’t ready yet!” _

_ “Yeah, he hasn’t gotten photos of everyone yet, since he’s mostly only gotten photos of-” _

_ “NO ONE!” Neil practically yelled, reaching out to shove a hand over Max’s mouth. Harrison started, not expecting the sudden outburst. Neil slowly lowered his hand, his face flushing. He quickly grabbed the box and put his photos away, locking them up before storming off. Nikki watched him go with a disappointed expression. _

_ “But I wanted to see them now…” _

_ Max snorted. “He’s just embarrassed.” _

_ Nikki turned to look at him. “You said that most of them were of one person?” _

_ He shrugged, moving to follow after Neil. “Maybe.” _

_ Harrison wandered off as well, heading towards the stage and trying not to glance back at the science camp, wondering what could be in that box that Neil would be so protective of. _

_ ________ _

 

“You mean-” Harrison started to ask, turning around to find that Max had wandered away. He looked around, spotting the boy standing next to Neil in front of the castle. He looked back over the images, one hand fiddling with his gloves. He glanced down at the locked drawer, knowing that inside was the box with the rest of the photos. The ones that weren’t staring at him.

He slowly turned and walked away, only glancing back once at the lock on the desk. Maybe Max was lying. Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe Harrison was totally misunderstanding this and was going to make a fool out of himself. All he knew was that his curiosity wasn’t going to be sated until he knew what was in that drawer.


	5. The Really Long Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was about to turn and make a break for it (because apparently he was very much of the “flight” response) when Nerris practically read his mind. She put a hand on his shoulder, shoving him toward Neil. Well, she meant to shove him towards. She ended up shoving him directly into his chest, but decided that it would work regardless.

Two days after the showcase Harrison snuck out of the mess hall halfway through lunch. Preston caught him and asked where he was going, so he feigned a stomach ache and slipped out the door. He glanced over his shoulder three times as he practically ran towards the activity field, gratified by the sight of no one following him.

He reached the science table, heart beating faster from both the running and the excitement. The others would still be a while so he had the perfect chunk of time. He pulled out the paperclip he had snatched from David’s desk and unbent it, inserting it into the lock. Nurf hadn’t been very helpful when he’d asked for lessons on picking locks, simply breaking into the quartermaster’s store and blaming Harrison, so he settled for using his magic.

It took a few tries to get the paperclip to cooperate, but eventually he got it, giving a little cheer as he slid it off. He glanced in the direction of the mess hall, listening for any sounds that signified the campers being released. Once he was sure there was nothing he gently pulled the drawer open.

His heart rate beat even louder as he eased the box out of its place nestled in the camera strap. Setting it gently on the table he pulled out the first few.

They were some of the photos that had been on display. He recognized one of Nerris and Preston playing DnD together on top of the castle. Sure enough the first forty or so were the ones everyone had seen. He flipped through the rest, not finding too many of interest. They weren’t great, most of them either blurry, boring, or repeats. Harrison was growing more and more confused. This was far less than he had seen spread over the ground when Max was looking.

He glanced back in the drawer, about ready to slap his forehead as he noticed the photo album sitting there. He pulled it out, ignoring the generic cover in favor of opening it and taking in the first page.

There were just more photos. More regular photos, about the same quality as the ones previously hung up. He was disheartened as he flipped through, still seeing no photos with him in them. He wasn’t even in the background…

The last few pages were empty, probably to house the removed ones, and he closed the book slowly. He sighed, wondering why he had even thought about any of this. It was obvious that Neil hated him. They had come to a makeshift truce lately, sure, but that didn’t mean the other boy could stand him any more.

He shook his head, moving to put the album back when he stopped. There was another album, the same shade of dark brown as the bottom of the drawer. It was thinner than the one he was holding, being far easier to overlook. He carefully pulled it out, more confused than anything now. What could possibly be in this one that made it special? Maybe it was empty? Or was just more photos that he hadn’t wanted in the box?

He stopped speculating and opened the album. The first page was empty and he was about ready to just put it all back when he got the sudden notion to keep going. He flipped to the second page to find nothing. When he opened it to the third page though, he physically jerked a little in surprise.

It was just… full. There were six images there, each nicer than the last. He flipped to the next page, and then the next, and the next. There were ones that were lighter colors and ones that had focused on darkening the area. There were some taken from far away and some that were close ups and bust shots. Quite a few were from the activities field, but a lot were from all over the camp. There was just one thing that connected them all.

“Me?” Harrison whispered, staring at the first page of photos again. They were definitely the best, and had been placed in the front as favorites. It made him flush more as he thought about that.  _ ‘Favorites… Neil has favorite photos of me?’ _

One of them was in the mess hall, just him listening to Nerris recount a story. One was of him listening to David’s speech, bored out of his mind, but the lighting was perfect. His personal favorite, though, was the top left corner. He was in the middle of a magic trick, a bird flying out of his hands and a look of joy spreading across his face. The focus was totally on him. It was a great shot. Harrison couldn’t believe that this was what he really looked like.

How had he not seen Neil taking these?! He had not once looked up to see Neil pointing his camera at him! And considering the amount of time he spent looking at Neil, ( _ ‘Not that I look a lot,’  _ he thought) it was incredible that these moments had managed to escape him.

He was still staring at the pages when he heard the sounds of the others approaching. Quickly closing the album he glanced up to see how far they were, starting as he caught Neil’s horrified expression as he looked from Harrison, to the book still in his hands.

The magician stared back, unable to move until he noticed Nikki bounding up the path. He moved faster than he’d thought possible, dropping the albums and box into the drawer and snapping the lock shut before he could even think about it. He looked once more at Neil, who was still locked in place, blushing and horror struck, before turning tail and sprinting towards the docks. He may have broken into Neil’s private drawer and looked through his personal belongings, but like hell was he going to have a serious conversation about it.

  
  
  


\--

  
  
  


For trying to avoid each other, Neil and Harrison somehow ran into each other more than they had before. Max laughed every time he saw Neil’s face turn red before the brunet jumped to hide behind him. Well, “hide” wouldn’t be the proper word for him trying to nonchalauntly crouch behind a boy a foot shorter than him. Either way, Harrison was pointedly looking down and walking faster anyway, so it didn’t make much difference.

Nerris was just about done with the stupidity by the time Harrison almost knocked her castle down by slamming the door closed with magic while trying to get out of Neil’s way before the scientist saw him.

“Just talk to him!” she said, slapping him on the head as they watched Neil and Max walk away. She had practically chased him out as soon as she felt the building wobble before stopping just outside the door. Harrison rubbed the spot, turning around to face her.

“I can’t! I broke into his desk just to satisfy curiosity-”

“Because Max had you hopeful that he was as obsessed with you as you are with him.”

“I- no! That’s not why!”

“So you’re admitting that you’re obsessed?”

“That’s not what I said. Look, I just can’t, ok? He already hates me-”

“Obviously not.”

“- and now it’s probably way worse.”

Nerris sighed and rolled her eyes. “You won’t know that until you try. Just apologize. You don’t want to spend the rest of the summer watching the boy of your dreams dance around you do you?”

Harrison stayed quiet for a moment, thinking that over. He opened his mouth to respond when he noticed the expression on Nerris’ face and the fact that her eyes were focused over his shoulder.

“What?” he asked, turning around to see what she was looking at. He froze as he realized that Neil was standing right behind him. When the brunette had turned around and come back he didn’t know. All he knew was that there was a flush to his cheeks and he had heard-

Oh god, he heard  _ everything _ . He ran the conversation back in his head, remembering everything that Nerris had said. Everything she’d said while she  _ knew  _ that he was there! He was about to turn and make a break for it (because apparently he was very much of the “flight” response) when Nerris practically read his mind. She put a hand on his shoulder, shoving him toward Neil. Well, she meant to shove him towards. She ended up shoving him directly into his chest, but decided that it would work regardless.

Harrison felt his brain stall, not even bothering to turn around to see Nerris walking away. He just looked up, registering Neil’s surprised face staring down at him. They both stood there for a moment before they snapped out of it at the same time. Harrison took a step back, catching his foot on Neil’s, sending him sprawling backwards. Neil moved on instinct, catching the magician by grabbing one of his wrists and looping his other arm around his back, trying to steady him.

“Are you ok?” he asked automatically, watching as Harrison nodded before flushing even more as he realized how they were standing. Neil noticed at the same time, taking a step back and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

There was a minute of silence before Harrison finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “Well, I’m going to go that way now,” he said, moving to turn and follow Nerris when he felt a hand on  his arm again. He stopped, studying Neil’s face. The scientist seemed confused by the movement as well, but he didn’t let go.

“Look, I think… I think we should talk. Even if it’s just to get the others off our backs.”

Harrison let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and gave a little smile. “Yours too?”

Neil returned the grin and Harrison felt his heart skip a beat at that because  _ ‘that smile was directed at me!’ _

“Yeah, Max mostly. Surprisingly.”

Harrison nodded, unsure of where to start.

“You broke into my desk?” Neil blurted out, the words even catching him off guard. Harrison looked down in shame.

“I’m sorry… I was curious.”

“Curious about my extra pictures? Why?”

The magician shuffled his feet a little, studying the other boy’s laces. “Well, you put out a lot of photos but… I wasn’t in any. And Max had said that you took a lot of photos of one person. And then he told me that you had put up photos of everyone except the person with the most photos-”

“He said what?!” Neil interrupted, looking stricken. Harrison nodded.

“He told me on the day of the showcase. So I got curious, because I was the only one not up there. I had to prove it to myself; I was upset over the thought of not being in  _ any  _ so I panicked and broke your trust and I’m sorry!” Harrison said, finally looking up at the end of his spiel to gauge Neil’s reaction.

The scientist stood there for a moment, studying him. “You… were upset? That I hadn’t taken any of you?”

Harrison forced himself to maintain eye contact. “Well, I mean, a little. Maybe.”

The response wasn’t the best it could have been, but god, he was doing his best since Neil was giving him that quizzical look and he wasn’t sure why and it was really starting to get to him!

“What?” he finally asked. Neil simply titled his head a little before speaking.

“So, what Nerris just said-”

Harrison groaned. “Can we not talk about what Nerris said? Please? I mean, it’s not important; she talks about a lot of random things, being so into fantasy and all, and-”

“You dream about me?”

He said it quietly, but it still caused Harrison to flinch. How was he supposed to answer that?!  _ ‘Why yes, yes I do! All the time actually! _ Whenever I look at you, I hope that you’re smiling, because when you are, I just get warm inside. And I can’t control myself when you stand next to me, to the point where I have to move because I can feel the heat from you and it makes my head fuzzy. My heart speeds up whenever you talk to me, and it’s bad enough that I don’t respond when you make fun of me or yell about my abilities, because you’re looking at me, and noticing me, and not being scared of me, and that’s more than I could have asked for. And I don’t know how to handle any of this because I have to try and forget the fact that you hate me, but it’s so hard and my chest tightens whenever I think of it and it hurts, but I can’t stop. I just can’t. Maybe Nerris was right about me being obsessed…’ he thought. He shook himself out of his thoughts to focus on Neil again, taking in the boy’s expression and realizing that he was quiet for far too long. He opened his mouth to speak but Neil beat him to it.

“What?!” he practically squeaked out, his eyes wider than he thought possible and harshening the surprise and confusion laced through the rest of his features.

“What?”

“You just said… Did I hear any of that right? Did you just say… You’re really obsessed with me?”

Harrison blinked, taking an embarrassingly long time to realize what had happened. He closed his eyes, sighing heavily and trying not to let his head explode like it greatly wanted to.

“I said all of that out loud didn’t I?”

There was a pause, prompting him to open his eyes. He saw Neil nodding, his face morphing more into a thoughtful expression.

Harrison could feel his emotions twisting in the bottom of his stomach but he tried to ignore them. “Let’s just forget about all of this, ok? Everything about this, the showcase, the…” He paused as he remembered the one thing that hadn’t been brought up.

“Wait… You never said why you had so many photos of me. Or why they were separate, and hidden.”

It wasn’t a question, but his expression was quizzical as he watched Neil’s face become alarmed.

“I… I mean… Um…” He stuttered, something that was very unlike him, which raised Harrison’s curiosity more. 

“I just… The light on that stage is really good!” he finally blurted out, watching Harrison and desperately hoping that he was going to get away with that. Harrison just raised an eyebrow.

Neil sighed. “And it’s close to my camp.”

Harrison kept staring at him and he finally caved.

“And you’re really photogenic, ok? You just have this… way, with the camera. An aura, almost. They just turned out so great! Some of my best. Your features look great in that lighting, like, better than usual, and it was just so easy to get expressions with how much emotion you put into your tricks, and it’s just all so beautiful that the camera is drawn to it!” He was a little out of breath by the end of his rant, and took a moment to settle down as he looked at Harrison’s stunned face. He thought about what he had said for a moment before wanting to bash his head into a wall.

_ ‘Did I really just say that?! I called him beautiful for fuck’s sake!’ _ he thought before giving up.

“You know what, yeah, let's just forget about all of this, ok?”

“Neil…”

“Yeah, I like that idea! So I’m just gonna go this way and-”

“Neil!”

Harrison’s voice dragged him back into the conversation. The shorter boy’s face was still flushed, but there was determination dancing over his features now.

“Do we have to? Forget it, I mean.”

Neil blinked. “I… What else could we do?”

Harrison just looked up at him, face vulnerable with raw emotions. He was opening himself up here, giving Neil a chance to give them both what they wanted. Neil paused for a minute, thinking it over before answering.

“If… there’s something else we could try, I think I’d be ok to,” he said, trying (and failing) to not smile at the look of joy that sparked Harrison’s face.

“Really?”

Now Neil really had to smile. “Yeah, I think so.”

“So…” Harrison glanced from Neil’s eyes to his lips and the scientist felt his blush return a little.

“So?”

“This means…” He paused. “You… don’t hate me?”

Neil stared at him for a minute before letting out a laugh, reaching out and pulling the shorter boy into a hug because, really, there is no way he should have been that cute just by looking vulnerable.

“No, I don’t hate you.”

He heard Harrison give a happy hum of approval as he returned the hug, pressing his face into Neil’s warm sweater. ‘I could get used to this,’ he thought.

“I think I could to,” Neil replied, and Harrison closed his eyes again. First, he would have to work on controlling his mouth.

\--

“So?” Nerris asked as Preston and Nikki walked through the door to the mess hall. Nikki shot her a thumbs up.

“Totally worked! They’re finally getting all of this fixed up,” Preston said, flopping down on the bench next to Max. The shorter boy snorted.

“Seriously, if I had to watch one more longing look between those two I was going to just push them into the boathouse and lock it until they got along,” he said.

Nerris smiled at him. “Yeah, and you know a lot about what longing looks are like, don’t you Max?”  
Max glared at her, ignoring Preston’s look of confusion. “Shut the fuck up.”

Nikki smiled, finally placing herself next to Nerris on the bench. “I’m just glad this all worked out. We’re getting closer to fixing everyone’s problems!”

Preston shook his head, making his hair swish back and forth. Max pointedly stared at the table.

“What, like the problems of everyone swooning over this handsome face?”

Max laughed. “The only handsome face that goes anywhere near you is mine.”

Preston pouted at him until Nikki spoke up.

“Oh come on Max, you think Preston’s handsome.”

The two boys turned to her, Preston’s face confused and Max’s panicked.

“No I don’t!” he said, thankful for his dark skin as he prayed that his blush wasn’t showing.

“Yeah you do! You told me! I remember, because then you told us to make sure not to say it anywhere around… Preston…”

She glanced between the two, face falling as she realized her mistake. Nerris had her face pressed into the table she was laughing so hard. Max was just looking down, unsure of how to argue while Preston stared at him with a mix of confusion and hope, a cherry red hue to his cheeks.

The only sound at the table was Nerris’ laughter as Harrison and Neil walked over. Neil sat down first, taking in Max’s and Preston’s face before connecting the dots.

“Oh… How did that happen?” he asked, ignoring Harrison’s confused face as he glanced at everyone at the table.

“Nothing,” Max grumbled, angrly digging a fork into his food.

“That wasn’t…” Harrison began, stopping at the sight of Neil shaking his head at him. He shrugged before sitting down next to the other boy, trying not to let his face light up physically when the scientist reached out and laced their fingers together.

Max rolled his eyes as Preston let out a quiet “Aww”. Neil flushed all over again, and Harrison was pretty sure that it wasn’t healthy to have that much blood rushing to your head for so long. He tried to free his hand, but Neil squeezed harder instead, indicating that he didn’t want to, despite the teasing. The magician smiled wider, looking down the table to make eye contact with Nerris.

She gave him a subtle thumbs up, and he looked down. He’d have to thank her later. Her push was what had caused all of this. Besides the part where he was a sneaky little shit who broke into things. That was all his doing.

But for now he was happy to just sit there and enjoy the warmth next to him. With the amount of stress he’d gone through, he thought he deserved it. With a sudden flash of bravery he gently laid his head on Neil’s shoulder. The other boy tensed for a minute before relaxing again, adjusting their hands to be more comfortable, and Harrison found that he couldn’t stop smiling if he’d wanted to.


End file.
